Charlotte messenger. [volume] (Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., N.C.) 1882-18??, 1887-08-06

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self. In fact, in his own words, ''that
man 'peared T. be bout as chuck fun O.
hard days works as they make 'em.> And
he also proved to be remarkably good
natured and reliable. But alas. there
was the old trouble. Pie2 Well no,
not pie yet, but it seemed as if ii might
almost reach that before it eliminated.
1t started on the Fourth Of July. Zach.
ariah had told Tom to hitch up old Doll
and "the colt" Gust past the eighteenth
anniversary of his BIRTH and they would
all drive into town and witness the great
celebration, "a celebration" remarked
the able Appleby Agitator, ''never be,
fore equaled in our Territory-one in
which the eagle will scream aud strong
men and fair women will vie with each
other in doing honor to our nations
birthday" When Zachariah and his
anliable spouse reached the door what
was their horror to fnd Tom and Alice
on the front scat, leaving the back seat
for them. 1t did no good to look at
them-they were very busy discussing
the relative beauty of different eolored
horses, Alice having just stated her
preference for the spotted variety ''hke
circus hoss, and Tom rather leaned in
that direction himself, So there was
nothing to do and they rode to the great
celebration as the young people had ar
ranged it.
And while in town, though not proved,
it was nevertheless strongly suspected,
that Tom bought this plump and rosy
checked girl ice cream ants red lemonade.
and it was never altogether clear where
the bag of peanuts and candy which her
mother discovered in the cupboard the
next day came from unless from the same
source.
And then they happened to walk home
from church great many times together,
And when the harvest came on Alice
seemed very fond ofearrying particularly
large and choice luncheons out to the
field.
So the season wore away. Harvest
was thing of the past, The grain had
been stacked and thrashed, 'this imme-
diatesection coming forward with a larger
yield than any other portion of the ter
ritory"-to again quote from our friend
the Agitator. Contrasting time was
even at hand and the pumpkins were
ripe-whieh meant fresh pumpkin pies
and great hoops of pumpkin hung up
around the chimney to dry against 4
time when the fresh pumpkin was no
longer with US.
Tom still worked as Faithfully and
good naturedly as ever. Hehad even got
q claim of his own in the neighborhodo
and talked of going to farming for hlm,
self in the spring. Zaehariah shook his
head; he don't know what Tom might
be thinking of. Not but what Tom wa1
remarkably good fellow and had risen
rapidly in his estimation, but be didn't
altogether like the idea of the best OfmeR
paying too much attention to his Alice,
So he shook his head and had his s0s-
picions. But it was all going to come
out and that very soon, though both Al,
ice and Tom were going about all Uaeoa,
scious of the danger,
Pie1 again whispers the anxious
reader. No; oh, dear, no, not pie. Ne.
not pie. Alasl if it only had been pie,
But the sad truth is that things had
gone far beyond pie. Zaehariah didn't
know it, but Hannah did. Too many big
pies, pumpkin pies, apple pies, squash
pies, currant pies, strawberry pies, Gus
tard nies and miscellaneous pies had dis
appeared for ner not to know that. Yes,
it was too true that many brave pie had
passed out of that pantry window, VIC
tim to the designs Of a plump, rosy
checked girl and the horrible and grow
ing appetite of a hired man, So il
wasn't pie that brought about the dread
climax. For goodness sake, tell what il
was, ehl Here it is, then; Zachariah
caught Tom kissing Alice,
Yes, Zachariah, personally, detected
Tom, also, personally, kissing Alice as he
met her about two-t thirds Of the way
down the wide outdoor cellar stairs,
Alice had been down straIning the eveR-
ing's milk, and Tom, we'll Tom had no
business going down cellar at all, much
less when Alice was down there. And
Zaehariah with his own eyes saw him
kiss her once, and he acted just as IL he
wasgoing to kiss her again. Aud Alice,
who stood one step higher up and might
just as well have escaped as not, stood
still and acted as if Tom had kissed her
right there on the cellar stairs before
Good heayensl and Zaehariah had once
worried about pie ordinary dried pump